Alyssa Healy has executed outstanding consecutive hundreds to lead her team into the last four of the Women's Cricket World Cup, driving them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just four days after her similarly impressive 142-run knock that defeated the Indian team at the same Vizag stadium. This time, she shared an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84no) to chase to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 deliveries.
“I felt I was a little bit poor behind the stumps, and perhaps a little bit as skipper as well today, but we’ll accept the two points and move on,” she said.
Ironically, the utmost professionalism of Thursday’s chase as the duo added 202 runs followed possibly Australia’s shoddiest performance in the fielding department under Healy’s stewardship, with the skipper criticizing herself in particular for spilling two of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and fortunately succeeded,” she added.
Since data was initially recorded on fielding performance metrics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Perhaps it’s just that time of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s an issue we’ll reflect on,” Healy said.
This allowed Bangladesh to eke out 9-198 after they had opted to bat first, their best-ever score in an ODI against the Aussies, with Sobhana Mostary scoring the maiden half-century ever for the Asian side against the reigning champions.
But Alana King mesmeric unbroken 10-over bowling performance, in which she claimed 2-18 with four maidens, was key to ensuring the team's target remained manageable.
The Captain Pleased with Victory that Seals Knockout Spot
Healy was pleased to discover that the triumph, which places her unbeaten team top of the group table on nine points after four wins and a abandoned match, secures them a place in the last-four. “That's fantastic,” she said.
The 35-year-old skipper sped to her century off just 73 balls, the quickest century of the World Cup, and ended with 20 fours off the 77 deliveries she faced as she accelerated from her partner in the latter stages in the innings after they had gone almost boundary-for-boundary towards their fifties.
Litchfield Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
The young batter Litchfield hit 12 boundaries and one maximum, getting to her maiden tournament fifty off 46 deliveries shortly after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-best stand by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy spilled the easiest of edges off a teammate and also was unable to hold on to a difficult lofted one off another bowler. Annoyingly, she also did take a clear catch off the same bowler but didn’t have it reviewed when the official turned down their shout.
The recalled Darcie Brown bowled the quickest deliveries at the World Cup so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowling option, conceding 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Thrive as Alana King Stars
Instead, the slow bowlers thrived, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been even more productive if Beth Mooney hadn’t dropped one in the slips.
Other spinners Wareham (two for 22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine) both contributed, while Annabel Sutherland strengthened her position as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with her 2-41, taking her tally to thirteen.
Rubya Haider’s 44 runs and another's unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their highest-ever score against the Australians, but the total was rendered straightforward by a side who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days earlier.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a global tournament,” remarked star performer King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We look forward to going back to Indore to face the English team and South Africa.”
